Mechanism for feeding blanks to metal-working machines



J. KAASE. I MECHANISM FOR FEEDING BLANKS T0 METAL WORKING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6. I919.

PatentedAug. 9, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1- 1'. KA.ASE. f I v MECHANISM FOR'FEEDING BLANKS T0METALWORKING MACHINES.

I APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6. I919.

Patehted Aug; 9, 1921.

SSHEEIS-SHEETZ.

v l 15 7 f a l I J. KAASE.

MECHANISM FOR FEEDING BLANKSTO METAL WORKING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6. 1919.

1,387,055, Patented Aug. 9,1921.

3. SHEETS-SHEET 3- ,F E 3 r UNITED STATES- form KAASE, or CLEVELAND,onro, ASSIGNOR ro THE ursoiv ivor oomrnnml'or CLEVELAND, OHIO, ACORPORATION, or 02110.

MECHANISM FOR FEEDING BLANKS 'roMET'AL-WQRKINGivraonfivns.

Be it known that 1, JOHN KAASE, a citizen of the United States, residingat Cleveland,

7 machine.

in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain newand useful Improvement in Mechanism for Feeding Blanks to Metal-forkingMachines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descrition. g I

T e present invention relates to a device intended to be used inassociation-with a metal working machine, the function of the devicebeing to feed blanks and properly position the blanks so that they maybe operated upon by the metal working machine.

One ofthe objects of the invention is to provide a device in which theblanks are successively positioned to be operated upon by the metalworking machine, thus eliminating the necessity for hand feeding andplacement of the blanks to be operated upon and thereby resulting ineliminating the danger incident to hand placement and feeding, and atthe same time materially speeding up the production operation of themetal working The embodimentof the invention which is shown anddescribed in the present case, is

particularly designed and adapted to. feed and properly place boltblanks in a bolt head trimming machine. However, it will be apparent asthe description of the invention proceeds, that the device may findother use and application than in the present connection.

Generally speaking, the invention may be;

said to comprise the elements and the combinations thereof set forth inthe accompanying claims. I

Reference should be had to the accompanying, drawings forming a partofthis specification, in whiclrFigure l is an ele-.

The device of the invention may bebriefly describedas comprising apivoted arm which is adapted to be bodily reciprocated.

Blanks to be operated upon are fed through Specification of LettersPatent. 7 Pate Application filed November 6, 1919. Serial No.- 336,086.

, the invention.-

, the. bolt.

tea Aug. 9,1921.

- a suitable 'guideway t0 be in such position that at any one positionof the pivoted arm, suitable fingers carried by the arm will pick up oneof the blanks and, bodily moveit into proper position with 'respeot'toone of the dies which are to operateupon-the blank for the purpose oftrimming the head of the bolt blank.

In the resent instance no attempt will be made toescribeor show indetail the construction of the bolt head trimming machine in connectionwith which the'pr'esent inven-' tion is used, only those parts of themachine being shown and described which may-seem necessary to properlydescribe the function of the device forming the subject matter ofReferring to Fig. bolt head trimming machine is indicated at 1. Thisisusually a stationary die and; is provided with acentral openingindicated at 2, whichisadapted to receive the shank of the bolt blank,preparatory to the trimming operation. Abovethe die l is a plunger}which is reciprocated .by suitable mechanism and onits downward strokeand in cooperation with the die l trims the head of The plunger 3has acentral'ope i indicated at 3 and in the presentinstance the bolt whentrimmed-is ejected from the die 1 through the opening 8 through whichopening itv is discharged from the machine. The

1, the lower die of'the particular. matters which have' just beendescribed form no part iQf the present invention, but form parts of bolthead trimming machines which are-well known in the art.

Secured tothe bed lof the, bolt head trim- I ning machine, or toanyothersuitable part thereof, is a base such as indicated at 5. ;This basemember 5 is secured byany suitable means, such as bolts indicated at.6.Upon the. base there is mounted a reciprocating carnage 7. Thlscarnagehasbeveled slde portions as indicated at 8 inFig. '2, whichcooperate with suitable undercut portions formedin the base 5. Upontheunderside of the carriage 7, a suitablerack having v teeth thereon issecured, and theserack teeth are adaptedto be engaged byv a segmentalgear-1 10, which-is mounted, upon a suitable shaft 11, which findsbearing in suitable journals carried by'the base '5; Secured; to

the "shaft 11 an arm. 12, andijpivotally secured to the end of the arm12 is a rod 13.

Upon the rod 13 there is threaded an adjustable abutment 14: whichengages with a spring 15. Above the spring there is a sliding block 16,and above the block there is a retaining'nut 17 which is threaded on therod 13. Pivotally secured to the block 16 is an arm18. This arm at itsopposite end is pivoted as indicated at 19, upon a suitable portion ofthe bolt head trimming machine. Intermediate its ends, the lever 18 ispivotally connected with an eccentric strap-20, which cooperates with aneccentric 21 carried uponthe shaft 22, which shaft 22 is a shaft forminga part-of the bolt head trimming machine, which ispositively driven.

It will be obvious from the construction parts a'reciprocating movementto'the rod 13, which in turn through the-arm 12 causes the-segmentalgear 10- to oscillate upon the shaft 11 and thereby'reciprocate thecarriage 7 Attention-is calle'dto'the fact that the driving movementbetween the lever 18 and the rod 13 in the directionwhich; moves thecarriage7 forward, is through the spring 15, which'spring isof suchstiffness as to ordinarily-not yield during such driving action, except,however, the spring will yield when the'carriage 7 reaches its mostforward posi tion and in such position abuts against a stop, as will belater described.

The carriage Tat the rear end thereof has a depending arm 5. This armhas an opening through which extends a set screw 23. The set screw isadapted to engage with a lug or stop '24 which is carried by the base 5.The-set serew23is' adjusted so that it willengage with thestop '24 when.the car riage' 7 is in its most forwardposition and in proper position.so that the pivoted arm carried thereby, which is aboutto be described,is in position to properly deliver a bolt blank to the die 1. It will beapparent that when the set screw 23 has engaged the stop 24, the forwardmovement of the car 'riage 7 is arrested and further movement of thelever 18 under action of the eccentric 21 will be taken up by the spring15.

An arm 25 is pivotally mounted upon the carriage7 as indicated at 25This arm ex tends'forward beyond the carriage 7 and at its forward endcarries a .finger 26. This fingerisbifurczited, as indicated 'at 26 in'Fig.14c, soflthat the shank of the bolt which is beingenga'gedbythe'finger 26, may be en gaged in 'the bifurcation in the manner laterdescribed. "25 also 1 carries ,a-spring plate member 27,

The forwardend of the lever which extends above the finger 26, themember27 being adapted' to engage with the top of aobolt head, while thefinger 26 engageswith the shank of the bolt, thus preventing anyslippage or movement of the bolt blank. during. the time that it isbeing engaged and .moved' by the lever 25. The finger 26 and the plate27 are secured to the end ofthe lever 25 by aresilient connection, sothat there is permitted a slight movement between the finger-26 and theplate 27 to accommodate variation in the engage the bolts 28 regulatethe tension of.

the springs 29.

The lever 25 at one portion thereof'has a side extending arm indicatedat25 and from thisarm there are depending flanges 25 and 25. he flangesare spaced apart and secured to the flanges and extending between thesame is a pin 31, upon which there are mounted two dogs indicated at-32and One of these dogs is so shown in Fig. 6 and .as will be noted has aflat surface 32 at the upper end thereof. This surface 32 liesadjacehtthe underside of the arm 25 and when the dog tendst'o move in aclockwise direction about the pin 31, the surface 32 engaging with thearm '25 prevents such rotation, so that the dog 32 is held insubstantially a vertical position. However, when the dog 32 moves in a.counter clockwise direction about the pivot 31, the movement of thesurface 32 is away from the arm and the pivoted movement of the dogispermitted; The dog 33 is of the same general construction as the dog 32but it is motioned upon the pin 31 in a manner opposite to themo'tioning of thedog 32, so that when the dog 32 moves in a counterclockwise direction and yields, the dog 33 does notyield, and viceversa.

Surroundingthe pin 31 is a spring 34. This spring at its oppositeends'is eonncctod with the dogs 32 and 33. The action of the spring isto normally hold the dogs and 33 in relative position, and the springreturns the dogs to their normal position when in the operation of themachinethey have been caused to move about the pin31. Upon the bed 5there is suitably mounted a cam member 35. This cam member 35 is mounteddirectly below the arm 25 The cam member 351m formed thereon two wedgesor cam projections which are indicated at 36 and 37. The projections 36and 37 have their slanting surfaces extendin opposite directions and arepositioned so as to engage with the dogs 32 and '33.

. pin 31.

arm 25, this; arm will be elevated upon the 37, but that during thistime the dog 33 is.

inoperative, being free to move about the However, upon the rearwardexcursion of the carriage 7 the dog 33 is engaging with the wedge 36 andthe dog 32 is inoperative.

As will be apparent, from the drawing, the forward excursion of thecarriage 7 moves the finger 26 toward and above the die 1 of the bolthead trimming machine and inasmuch as the bolt blank has a long shank,it is necessary to elevate the bolt blank so that the end of the boltblank will at the end of the forward excursionof the carriage 7 be inposition to engage with the opening 2 in thedie 1. During theforward-movement of the lever 25, the lever is elevated and when thelever is in such position that the shank of the bolt blank is above theopening 2 inthe die 1, the lever 25 drops in a vertical direction,thereby permitting and causing the shank of the bolt blank to enter theopening 2 of the die -1.

The foregoing is accomplished bypositioning the cam member so that onthe forward excursion of the carriage 7 the dog 32 drops over the :endof the wedge 37 when the bolt blank is in proper position above thedie 1. As will be recalled, the extent of the forward movement of thecarriage? is controlled through the engagement of the set screw 23 withthestop 24, while the raising and loweringof the arm 25 on the forwardexcursion of the carriage 7 is controlled by the positioning of the cammember 35.

When the arm 25 has descended-at the end of its forward excursion, theshankof the bolt blank occupies the opening 2 in the die 1 and when thelever 25 begins its rearward excursion, the bolt blank is retained inthe die 1. During the rearward excur sion, the dog 33 engages with thewedge 36,

thereby elevating the arm 25 during its rearward excursion, until at theend thereof when the dog 33 drops overthe end of wedge 36 the lever 25is again lowered.

In order to limit the lowermost position of the lever 25, a set screw 39is mounted upon the lever 25 and engages with a portion of thereciprocating carriage 7. .The lever 25 will descend after being raisedby gravity but in order to assure a quick and positive lowering of thelever and in general to prevent any unnecessary movement of the lever25, the lever is engaged by a spring 40, which surrounds a pin 41. thepin being mountedon the carriage 7 and extending through a suitableopening in the lever 25. The tension of the spring 40 is controlled by anut carried by the pin 41 as indicated at 42. I

5 a member 43. This member is provided i In order to feed and positionthe bolt blanks so-that they may be engaged and moved in succession bthe recinrocatin y .L m

lever 25, there is mountedfupon the base with'a groove 44 which is of aproper width to accommodate the shanks of the bolt blanks which are fedto it. In operation the shanks of the bolt blanks extend through theslot 44 while the heads of the blanks ride upon opposite sides of theslot 44. The member 43 cooperates with a chute 45 which is a diagonallyextending chute and the bolt'blanks are "adaptedto .be fed into'the endof the chute 45, which may be of any desired length, andxby gravity feddown the chute 45 into the slot 44. As before stated, the bolt blanksfeed down the chutei45 by gravity and the pressure of-the bolt blanks.in the chute is sufficient to move the boltblanks through the slot 44and into position to be engaged by the lever 25. The slot .44 has an endwall indicated at .44 against' which the shank of the foremost boltblank engages, and where it is in proper position to 'befen gaged by thefingers 26 that are carried at the forward end of the lever 25. Theslot,

44 is open upon one side at this point and in order to retain the boltblank from accidentally dropping out of the slot ahead of t 1eengagement of the blank by the fingers 26, a pivoted gate is provided,which 06-: prises the gate member'43- which is pivoted, as indicatedv at47, upon the 'rnember This gate member 46 has an arm 46 which isengaged-by 'a spring 48, the spring normally holding the gate member inthe'position in dicated in Fig. 2.. Howevenit will be seen I that whenthe fingers 26 engage with the bolt blanl: and move it forward, thegate46' will yield and permit the bolt blank to move. The spring pressureupon the gate 46 is suiiicient to retain-the blankin place until v thefingers 26 are properly engaging the' bolt after which the gate 46yields.

- In. order toavoid any jamming of the bolt blanks in llllG'g'fOOVB 44,in. the event that they would notbe properly positioned or in Ithe'event that the fingers 26 should *in part engage with the bolt blankwhich is next'to the one at the end of the slot 44, 'aportiou of onewallof the slotfis provided by having a pivoted wall member 49.Thisxwall member is acted upon bythe coiled spring 50in a manner tonormally hold the wall member 49 in the position indicated inv F 2.however, it will be seen that the member 49 will yield under sufiicientpressure so that there is absolutely no opportunity for'any jamming'action of the bolt blanksin the slot 44.

The ortion of the'member 43 which is just beyond the position occupiedbythe foremost'bolt blankisbeveled, asin'dicated at 43 1n Flg. 7. Thisbeveled portiongu des the fingers 26 up against the undersideof the headof the bolt blank in the forward movement of the lever and continued forward movement of the lever pushes upon the gate which immediately uponthe passage of the particular bolt blank in question re indie L tion ofthe lever the lever is lifted over the mem or which carries the feedinslot i l-and is dropped 2:: 1. be ond this member so as to be inaosition l to pick up the next succeeding blank.

Havin described In inventionl claim:

in I u l 1.. The comblnation with a hollow die member adapted to receivea blank to be 013- erated upon, or a reciprocating lever, means forreciprocatmg the lever, means ii'or moving the lever in a verticaldirection during its reciprocation and means for "feeding blanks into.the path of movement off said lever and intermediate the limits of thepath of reciprocation oi said lever, whereby the lever engages the blankand moves it to said die.

2. The combination with a hollow die of a reciprocating lever, means forreciprocating the lever toward and from said die, means for moving thelever in a vertical direction during the reciprocation, means forfeeding blanks in the path of said lever and intermediate the limits ofthe path oi reciprocation oi said lever, fingers carried by the leverand adapted to pick up a blank elevate the same and position it uponsaid die during a forward reciprocation of said lever.

3. The combination with a die adapted to receive a blank of areciprocating lever, i 1- gers adjacent one end or" the lever, means forimparting reciprocating a SllllllitiLlTlGOllS vertical movement to thelever whereby the fingers have an arcuate movemen ant. means for feedingblanks in the path of movement in the said lever, whereby the fingersen-.

gage a blank and move itinto position upon said die during a singleforward reciprocation of the lever. V

4t. In a device of the character described, the combination with areciprocating lever, means for reciprocating said lever, cam meanscooperating with the lever whereby thelever is moved in a verticaldirection during its reciprocation, fingers carried by said lever at theend thereof and means for feeding blanks in the path of movement of saidlever at a point which is intermediate the limits of reciprocation oithe lever, and in position to be engaged by sair. lingers.

5. In a device of the character described,

position to be one the combination of a reciprocating carriage, a leverpivoted at one end upon said carriage, lingers carried by the lever atthe opaosite end thereof, means cooperating with no love to impartvertical movement to "he lever during the reciprocation of the and meansfor feeding blanks in the path of movement of said lever and in ,ed bythe fingers at one point in the reci oc tion thereof.

6. in a device of the character described, the combination of areciprocating carriage,

lingers carried by the lever at-the opposite end thereof, a leverpivoted atone end upon said c means for reciprocating the ca= meanscoiiperating with said lever to move the lever in a vertical direc-'tion during the reciprocation of-the carriage and means for feedingblanks in the path of movement oi said lever and in position to beengaged by said lingers in one position of the said lever.

'2'. in a device oi the character described,

the combination of a reciprocating carriage,

a lever pivoted at one of its ends upon said carriage, fingers carriedby the lever at the opposite end thereof, stationary wedge mem- V "lwith the lever cooperating n tionary wedge members whereby the lever ismoved in a vertical direction durin the reciprocation of the carriage,means ror reciprocating the carriage and feeding blanks in the pathotmevem of the lever and in position to be engagcdby the sail fingers. atone point in the movement of said lever.

8. device of the character described, the combination with areciprocating carri means for reciprocating the carriage s c i isincluding slidable connection, an aqustable stop l miting the forwardupon said carriage, fingers carried by said lever, means for feedingblanks into the path movement of said lever and in position to engagedby the said fingers oi the lever point during the reciprocation thereof.9. In a device of the character described, the combination oi areciprocating carriage, means for reciprocating said carriage, anadjustable stop for limiting the forward movement of said carriage,means tor driving said carriage, said driving means having a yieldingportion therein, a lever carried movement of the carriage, a levermounted by the carriage, fingers carried by the said lever,-means torteedingfblanks in the path of IHOVGD'lOlll) of said lever and inposition to be engaged by said fingers at a position in thereciprocation of the lover.

10. in device of the character described, the combination with areciprocating carriage, means "for reciprocating said carriage, saidmeans having a yielding connection therein, an adjustable stop forlimiting the forward, movement or the carriage, a lever pivoted at oneend upon saidcarriag fine riage, means for reciprocating the carriage, alever pivoted at one end upon the carriage, means, for elevating thelever during the forward reciprocation of the carriage and.

permitting it to descend at the end of said forwarding reciprocation,means for feeding blanks into the path of movement of said.

lever and in a positiontobe engaged by tie said fingers at one positionof the lever.

12. In a device of the character described, the combination withreciprocating carriage, means for reciprocating said carriage, a leverpivoted at one end upon the carriage, fingers carried by the lever atthe opposite end thereof, means for raising the said lever during theforward reciprocation of the car riage and permitting the lever todescend at the end of said reciprocation, means for lifting the leverduring the rearward reciprocation of the carriage and permitting it todescend at the end of said reciprocation, means for feeding blanks inthe path of movement of said lever and in position to be engaged by thesaid fingers upon the forward reciprocation of the said carriage.

13. In a device of the character described, the combination with areciprocating carriage, means for reciprocating said carriage, a leverpivoted at one end upon the carriage, fingers carried by the lever atthe opposite end thereof, pivoted dog members carried by the lever, apair of wedge members cooperating with'the said dogs, the slantingsurface of said wedge members extending in opposite directions, meansfor feeding blanks in the path of movement of said lever and in positionto be engaged by the said fingers at the beginning of the forwardreciprocation of said carriage.

14. In a device of the character described, the combination with areciprocating carriage, means for reciprocating the carriage, a leverpivoted at one end upon the carriage, fingers mounted on the leveradjacent the opposite end thereof, a pair of dogs' associated with saidlever, each of said dogs being pivoted and mounted to be rigid in onedirection of movement and free to'move in the opposite direction ofmovement, a pair of wedge members with which the said dogs cooperate,said wedge members having their slanting surfaces extending in oppositedirections, means for feeding blanks in the path of movement of sai'dleverand in positlon to be engaged by the said fingers at the beginningof the forward movement of the carriage.

15. In a device of the character described,

the combination with a reciprocating lever, means for reclprocating saidlever, of a guide and feed for blanks, said uide having a slot throughwhich the blanks move, said slot being open at a portion thereof, aspring ressed 'ate closin said 0 enln fin ers b b C? b carried by saidlever, said fingers being adapted to engage with the blank and move itto open said gate and carry the blank beyond the the lever.

16. In adevice of thecharacter described, the combination-with, areciprocating lever, means for reciprocating said lever,0f a guide andfeedfor blanks, said guide having a slot gate during the reciprocationof which extends into the path of movement of said lever, said slothaving an opening at the end thereof through which a blank may for saidopening, a resilient member normally holding said gate in closedposition, fingers carried by said lever, said fingers being adapted toengage with the blank. and move it past. the gate during thereciprocation of the lever. 1 a

17. In a device of the'character. described, the combination with areciprocating lever, means for reciprocating said lever, of a memberforming a guide and feed for blanks, said member having a slot throughwhich the blanks move, the slot extending transversely with respect tothe path of movement of the lever, said slot having an opening at theend thereof, a spring pressed gate forming a closure for said openlng, aportion of move, a pivoted membe'r forming a gate' gaged with the blankand move it beyond 1 said gate during the reciprocation of the saidlever.

18. In a device of the character described,

the combination with a reciprocating lever,

means for reciprocating said lever, of a member adapted to guide andfeed blanks, said guide having a slot through which the'blanks move,said guide member extending .transversely of the path of movement of thelever,

said guide member having a slanting wall portion upon the rear thereofadapted to be engaged by the forward end of the lever at the beginningof its forward stroke, said guide having a slot through which the blanksmove, a spring pressed gate forming a closure for sald open1ng, fingerscarried by the lever, said fingers being adapted to engage with theblank and move it beyond- 19. The combination of a reciprocating" lever,means for feeding blanks into the path or"? movement of the saidreciprocatinglever and transversely of said path of movement, fingerscarried by the said lever and adapted to engage with a head of theblank'and pick up a blank to move the same, means for imparting to saidlever a reciprocating move ment and simultaneous vertical movement.

20. In a device of the character described, the combination of areciprocating lever, means for reciprocating the lever, means forfeeding blanks into the path of movement of said reciprocating lever,spaced fingers carried by the said lever, a spring pressed membercooperating with the said fingers, said fingers and spring pressedmembers being adapted to engage With the blank to pick it up and moveit.

21. In a device oi the character described,

the combination of a reciprocating lever,

means for feeding boltblanks into the path of movement of the saidreciprocating lever and transversely of said path of movement, fingerscarried by the said lever and adapted to engage beneath andabove thehead of the blank for the purpose of moving the blank, means forimparting to said lever a reciproeating movement and simultaneousvertical movement.

22. In a'device of the character described, the combination ot areciprocating lever, means for reciprocating the lever, means forfeeding bolt blanks into the path of movement of said lever, spacedfingers carried by v the lever, a spring pressed-member carried by thelever above the said fingers, said fingers being adapted to engagebeneath the head of the bolt and the spring pressed members beingvadapted to engage the top of the head of the bolt for the purpose ofmoving the said blank.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature.

JOHN 'KAASE.

